Something Bubbly, Something Blue
by Madartiste
Summary: Natsu discovers that he likes weddings. (Nalu one-shot fluff)
**_Summary:_** _Natsu discovers that he likes weddings. (Nalu one-shot fluff)_

 ** _Author's Note:_** _Not much to say about this one. It started off as an idea of Natsu trying champagne for the first time and sort of snowballed into the rest. If you don't know who Abigail is, don't worry. That get's explained, and she's not really all that important anyway._

 _Big shoutout to my ultra-groovy beta reader, Absent Angel, who is amazing and super nice! This had a lot more typos when it was just me working on it. Thank you!_

* * *

Natsu stared skeptically at the pale gold liquid that had been set in front of him. He tapped the side of the elegant crystal glass with a fingernail and watched in awe as more bubbles dislodged from the base and floated to the surface. Curious, he stuck his nose over the rim and sniffed, catching the distinctive, sharp scent that declared the fluid to be alcoholic. He hadn't been expecting the strange sensation that accompanied it, though.

Lucy giggled as he rubbed the back of his hand against his scrunched nose. "The bubbles tickle!" he protested when she kept laughing.

"You've never had champagne before?" she teased, elbows perched on the table and chin resting on her knuckles.

He shook his head and held the glass up towards the light, mesmerized by the clarity and color. "This is fancy booze. I'm used to beer and fire whiskey. And bourbon that one time. Remember that rich client who was all into the old liquors?"

"Yeah, I remember." Her smile was warm, but she touched his arm when he tilted the drink towards his lips. "That's for toasting, Natsu. It's traditional to wait until everyone gives their speeches." She inclined her head towards the person standing up at the head table.

A glass rang as the black clad young man tapped it gently with the side of his fork, and the murmurs died off when he started to speak. His voice shook a little from obvious nerves as he started to recount the tale of how his two friends first met. Lucy supposed it was a decent enough toast but was distracted by Natsu's crinkled brow when he whispered to her.

"Why does he get to talk?"

"He's the best man. The groom's best friend usually." Abigail had hastily introduced them all when they arrived, but the names of the wedding party hadn't quite stuck in Lucy's head.

The dragon slayer seemed to consider this for a moment. "So… Happy would be my best man?"

She sighed gently, lips curling at the edges. He'd asked questions all the way through the ceremony too, wanting to know why some people were standing up front while everyone else sat, what the change in music meant, who the old guy walking the bride down the aisle was, and why everyone started crying. He was relieved that it was because they were all happy for the newly wed couple. "If you get married, you can pick whoever you want," she said.

There was some polite applause and a communal raising of pricey champagne flutes when the best man finished, smiling in relief. It was likely that he'd spent weeks, if not months, agonizing over those words. "And the lady next to Abby is the… maid of honor, right?"

Lucy knew she shouldn't be surprised that he'd never been to a wedding before, but it still seemed strange. Her own childhood had been chock full of important, stuffy weddings that her family had been invited to, and she'd had the proper etiquette drilled into her since she could walk. "Yep. That's usually the bride's best friend."

"Would you pick Erza or Levy?" he asked, mercifully keeping his voice low as Abigail's father was now droning on.

The question caught her off guard, and the celestial wizard pursed her lips. "Uh, I don't know… Does it matter?"

"Hmm," Natsu's dark eyes narrowed in deliberation. "Maybe you could do both. Is there a rule you can't do that?"

"I… I'm pretty sure you can do what you want if it's _your_ wedding…" The stellar mage frowned, wondering what prompted his persistent interest in the subject. He sometimes fixated on the strangest things.

He prodded the glass in front of him, pushing it along the smooth linen tablecloth for a moment. "And there'd have to be lots of food. And booze. Are there rules about how many people you can invite? There's a lot here."

"Where is this coming from?" she asked. It was honestly adorable to think of the rambunctious, chaotic fire wizard suddenly wanting to plan people's weddings.

Shrugging, he raised his glass along with everyone else before taking a sip of the golden drink. He wrinkled his nose again. "This stuff is cool. It's fizzy booze! We should totally have some for our -" He broke off, gaze sliding sideways to catch Lucy's saucer sized brown eyes as she gaped at him. "Uh… You know… _If_ we… what's that word? Hypocritically -"

"Hypothetically," she filled in, setting her drink down before it had a chance to drop out of her jittery fingers. "You were just talking about a 'what if'… Right?" The answer seemed suddenly much more important than anything else that had happened in quite some time.

Natsu looked away, watching the woman wreathed in white satin and lace stand up. "... Sure… Just a 'what if.'"

Was he serious? She stared at him hard, wishing she could just draw the thoughts out of his head to pick them over. For someone who seemingly ran on emotion, he could hide his feelings with disturbing ease. "That's an… unusual 'what if.' Especially for you."

His head turned, dark eyes deep and mirror-like as they reflected her own concentrated face. After a long moment where the celestial wizard belatedly realized she was holding her breath, his mouth quirked ever so slightly. "Is it really?" he asked, a teasing lilt in his tone.

Lucy didn't have a chance to formulate her response before her attention was caught by the bride's speech.

"And there are two more people that I really must thank because without them this wedding never would have taken place." Abigail smiled brightly, looking towards the pair of wizards. "If Natsu and Lucy hadn't come by and stopped those bandits from kidnapping me, I never would have gotten to experience the happiest day of my life. They'll tell you it was just happenstance, but _I_ believe it was fate. Thank you, and I will always owe you a debt. To Fairy Tail!"

Lucy ducked her head at the applause while Natsu grinned hugely and saluted the crowd with his half empty champagne. "Any time you need some help, just give us a call," he declared proudly. His elbow nudged the blonde next to him, offering her that toothy, pleased smile.

The champagne was drained after the last toast and food laid out in front of the guests. The dragon slayer dug in with customary gusto while his partner followed with her drilled in manners. Immediately caught up in a conversation with the men on his other side, it seemed like Natsu had simply dropped the topic of wedding plans for one about magic amplifiers and how they were used in combat.

Lucy, on the other hand, was having trouble letting it slide even as a couple across the table from her started asking what being part of a wizard guild was like. They had talked a bit about the future, but any discussion of marriage was quite a jump. The twinkle in his eyes had made her wonder if he was simply joking or if there was more going on in that mysterious head of his.

She hadn't even realized how much time passed until the band started playing and a light touch on her shoulder made her jump. Abigail giggled at her reaction, pale fingers pushing a few artfully curled strands of chestnut hair away from her face. "Sorry about that, but I wanted to give you something."

Waving her hands, Lucy tried to decline as she rose to her feet. "Oh, no! You don't owe us anything. Like I said, it wasn't a job, and we were happy to help out. I'm just glad we got there at just the right moment."

"Regardless," the other woman reached up and unclipped something from her ornate hairdo. "I want you to have this…"

"It's lovely," the celestial mage said, turning the barrette over in her hands when the bride placed it there. It was shaped like a flower with blue faceted crystals for petals. Having personally gone from a diamond to a quartz budget she could tell the stones weren't worth much at all, but it was very pretty and obviously had some age to it. "I can't take this…"

Abigail laughed. "Don't be silly! It's not an heirloom or anything, but I was wearing it when you saved me. It seems like it was a lucky charm for me, so I thought… maybe it could be your 'something blue' too."

Lucy felt heat crawl up her cheeks. "Oh, I-I'm not getting married. Not anytime soon, anyway -"

"Really? With the way Natsu looks at you…" The bride hid a sly smile behind her hand that made Lucy blush even harder. "Well, you can keep it for when you _do_ get married. Just think of it as my investment in your future." She hugged the younger woman tight. "Thank you for _everything_."

Lucy fanned at her warm face as the woman gathered up her train and headed out for her first dance with her new husband. "What'd that mean? Something blue?" Natsu peered curiously at the hairpin, startling her with his sudden appearance.

"It's just an old tradition," the blonde explained, trying not to be embarrassed by his closeness. "'Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe.' They're all things a bride is supposed to wear at her wedding for good luck. But it's not -"

"Hey, you've got a head start!" he exclaimed, grabbing her hand. "The other stuff doesn't sound like it should be hard to get. Not sure why you'd want money in your shoe, though. That sounds like it might hurt."

Stumbling as he dragged her towards the dance floor, Lucy stuttered, "W-what do you mean? It's not like I'm getting married right now! Where are we -"

"We're gonna dance." Natsu turned and laid his palm on her hip, ignoring how she tensed and glanced at the other couples filtering into the music filled space. "You should probably lead, though. I'm not so good at this."

"But that's not how it…" Her words drifted off in the face of his relentless grin. Even if it was customary for the man to lead, Lucy had to admit that wasn't really how their relationship had ever worked. The dragon slayer took everything at his own pace, in his own order. His unpredictability and acknowledgement of her own strengths was part of the charm, she supposed.

She couldn't help but return his sunshine grin, feeling warmth spread through her limbs just as it always did when he smiled at her like that. Lucy spun him around in time with the tune, and he burst out into laughter at the unexpected move. "You know what?" she said, "Who cares how everyone else does things. Let's do this _our_ way."


End file.
